Machinimoo

I received a MySpace friend request a couple of weeks ago from “I Love Blow”. Curious, I went to their page and it turned out to be a new energy drink, with a twist… It’s a mix with three times the caffeine of Redbull, but you can put it in any drink! It’s the same price as Redbull too, but I think they’re offering free shipping until the 9th? The reason it’s so controversial is because Blow is a nickname for cocaine and they package it as a white powder in a vial. It’s marketing designed to get attention, and it’s receiving it.

I ordered the case of 24, simply because it’s worth it for the free t-shirt. Watch this video for more insight. Any predictions on when this drink mix will be removed from the market because of it’s name and appearance? Does seeing this sort of thing upset you? Has anyone tried it and can tell me if it tastes good? I really love my energy drinks and Redbull gets so expensive.

Slate Magazine, How Facebook could crush MySpace, Yahoo!, and Google, June 2007

“For all the hype about Second Life, Facebook and MySpace are already the closest things we have to “virtual worlds.” Sure, Facebook doesn’t have large-breasted 3D avatars and a sky and buildings and its own currency. But the whole point of the Internet is that you don’t need all that stuff. If I want to buy something, I go to Amazon, not some virtual store.”

ValleyWag, Hanging out with the kids in Second Life, June 2007

Comment made by ValleyWag reader Rockwell:

“Someone on my LinkedIn network posted a question asking if anyone had done any recruiting on Second Life. It took willpower not to respond to the effect of: if your firm is seeking a bi-curious furry with a penchant for light S&M, you might want to look there. “

I learned a bit of CSS to change my MySpace layout, but I’ll admit that I’m a total newb at it and forgot it all.  I also REALLY suck at DIV overlays.  With that said, I’m sick of the look of my WordPress blog and was thinking of overhauling it, but I’m at a loss as to how to do it.

Any Machinima lovers want to make me a nice layout that is WordPress.com friendly?  I’d be eternally greatful.

If Second Life were a high school and Prokofy Neva were the Principal, this is what his list might look like:

Noospherists: Overachievers. Congrats! You’re at the top of the class, guys. You get things done and you have a bright future ahead of you.

FIC 2.0s: Student Council and Jocks. You’re the cool kids. You may not own a business, but your work with others is high profile and you are well-connected. You might not go as far as the honor roll students, but you’ll still have time to party, right?

FIC 2.1s: The bad boys. You’ve been caught smoking in the bathroom and etching your name into your desk. You’re still connected, but your affiliation with the drama club often gets you into trouble.

FIC 1.0s: Underachievers. You thought you could sail through your senior year and it didn’t work out. The principal has just informed you that you’ll be repeating the grade.

With that said, is anyone up for a themed graduation party?  We could do yearbook photos and tell everyone our goals for the future!

I have a lot going on in the next few months. I knew it would be an intense time for me. I’d signed up to help with some volunteer things, and have my normal jobs. I’ve been really stressed and not happy lately. I’ve started to block out the negative things in my Second Life to make things better in my First Life.

When SignPostMarv Martin asked me to help out with the Machinima area of SL4B, SL’s 4th birthday party, I said I would gather Machinima links from over the years to put on the plot. After that, I discovered that when I didn’t attend a meeting, he’d signed me up to hold a Machinima contest during that meeting. This was NOT okay and I let him know so. Then I discovered that I’d have to build a plot, which I am not good at, so I picked one out and worked towards finding builders for the plot.

Today I was asked by “messenger” if I’d be in charge of all the media in SL, such as podcasts and things like The Grid Review. This was the last straw. I left the SL4B group. I am far too busy and stressed trying to plan SLCC and earn my way there with less than three months to go to be worrying about this. I wish them the best of luck.

On top of that, I had someone try to get onto the Machinima track last minute based on their status within the community. I won’t name names, but they wanted to teach a class that was similar to what I already have planned for the track.  They had months to express interest in the track and if they’d have looked on the SLCC07 website, they’d have seen that I had something planned.  I told them that if their idea didn’t overlap mine, I would extend time from my class out for them, as the entire track is full and has been for a while. They asked me to outline my itinerary to them, and not the other way around. This took me aback because they’re trying to get space on the track and I’m trying to accommodate them. I have time to plan the class because the convention is over two months away, but I had already told him the basic details of what I was going to teach. I dunno, maybe I’m being irrational.

They then sent me an email stating that they assumed that Ben would be teaching the class, so they’d just drop him a note. You see, they didn’t want to step on his toes and felt it would be the perfect opportunity to collaborate. My jaw literally dropped open. When he wasn’t getting anywhere with me, he incorrectly assumed that Ben, my boss for Alt-Zoom, would be teaching this class, so he’d go around me. I informed him that I was the sole planner of the Machinima track. I was teaching the class, so he would go through me. He would be stepping on my toes. I did say, however, that if our classes complemented each other, that I’d be more than happy to extend out my class. He sent me a response saying it’s best to just leave it at that.

I have also extended this blocking out the negative to friends. I blocked a friend from all of my messengers yesterday and it killed me to do so, but I felt that our history was too distracting to think about. Seeing him in my list just saddened me, because between him and another person, I felt stuck in the middle of drama that I do not need.

Maybe I’m going crazy. I’m not sure. I keep telling myself that if I can just survive until SLCC, it’ll all be worth it, but I have to get to that point first. If we’re friends and I haven’t been around much, I apologize. I’m doing a million business things at once and trying to find time for fun, but it’s not working out. Know that I have not forgotten about you. I just don’t want to end up flipping out and being snippy.  Man I’m ranting a lot and I’ve said way too much already.  I just hope you guys understand.

*taps the mic* Is this thing on? Wow! It’s been a crazy few months. As some of you may already know, I’ve been blogging over at Second Life Insider. While I’ve been getting used to that, among other things, my blogging here has suffered quite a bit. I’m hoping to change that.

On to the subject matter at hand. I was speaking with Tuesday McKay (Betsy Weber of TechSmith) and she informed me of an event for Coca Cola going on at crayon island. When I arrived, the buzzword there was PodCruise Miami. What is it? A 4 day cruise from Florida to the Bahamas! It’s pretty damn cheap. It takes place from December 7th-10th, 2007. My roomie will be TheDiva Rockin. I’m so excited!

What is PodCamp?

Per the Podcamp Wiki:

PodCamp is a FREE BarCamp-style community UnConference for podcasters and listeners, bloggers and readers, and anyone interested in New Media. It was held for the first time from September 8-10 in Boston, Massachusetts and is now spreading across the world.

Is anyone else going to this? Let me know! We’ll get our drink on.

Okay, so I’m a total dork. I actually rent movies in Second Life. I recently watched one, Accepted, about a group of students that fabricate a university when they’re rejected from others. I thought it would be a lighthearted comedy, and it was, but what I also noticed was that it was filmed at my REAL former university, Chapman University.

In August of 1999, I headed off to Chapman with my future ahead of me. It was quite expensive, at about 28k USD including dorm, and not all of it was covered under scholarships and loans. It was actually the only school I applied to. I wanted it that bad and knew I was accepted two days before Christmas my senior year of high school.

Backing up a bit to when I first moved to California when I was 15. I briefly attended high school in Orange County (“The OC” as you TV fans call it) and Chapman University wasn’t far away. It had Christian morals and values, but more than that, it was also a top tier school. I longed to go there and prepared for it for years. I had great grades, was involved in just about every club, was French Club President, in Student Council, won a leadership trip to Big Bear, involved in Newspaper, spoke at pep rallies, etc. I had it all.

Or so I thought. I was also very sheltered and wasn’t quite prepared for the shock of the poor life. I was a legal studies major, which meant I was in it for the long haul, working my way through school. To the tune of probably in excess of 200k. I also had a very famous child star as a roommate originally. Jodie Sweetin, Stephanie of Full House fame, was quite popular there. The same friends that told me not to let her push me around became her minions not long after. They weren’t worth knowing at that point. I changed rooms shortly thereafter.

College was a giant step for me, and I wasn’t ready. I stopped out after the first semester intending to go back. Then I got bills. It’s something that I’ve always regretted. Looking back now, though, it was probably the right decision. I paid back every single loan I had for that semester, including my parents’ loan for my education, over 4 years time, of course. I’ve only looked forward.

The question I ask myself now is, am I happy? The answer is yes. I may not have a fancy college degree, and it’ll probably hurt me in the long run. For now, I’m doing what I love, using my past knowledge and leadership skills, and forging a community.

What am I working on? I’m promoting and educating about Machinima. Soon, hopefully, I’ll be reaching out to the Teen Grid. I produce machinima for The Grid Review. I’m about to start blogging for a news site. I’d definitely say that I’m proud of what I do and what I stand for. That can’t be attained from a four year degree. It’s inside of me.

I guess what I’m saying is that the movie made me feel all warm and fuzzy.  No, I’m not drunk!  I just love Second Life.

I just had to get that out of my system. Group hugs for all!

This was inspired by one of Luth Brodie’s, of Reel Movement, poses in her new “Rawr” pack. I believe it’s pose #10. The Rosie the Riveter influence is unmistakable.

I’m not the most technical person on the planet, so when I had a printer install go wonky, I decided I should virus scan, but I didn’t have a program on my new computer yet. I decided to let the pre-installed Norton finish installing. Bad idea. The installation went fine, but after it restarted and came back up, Microsoft stepped in and said NO, thus preventing me from opening the program. It locked me out of the internet to access tools, prevented me from uninstalling it, and wouldn’t even let me restore the system to before the install. Luckily, my dad was able to find a link to the removal software and brought it over on a memory stick. That was the longest day and a half ever!

In the grand scheme of things, there are very few machinimists in Second Life that contract out for their work. Because I promote machinima, I am often the first line of contact when someone is looking for a machinimist. I rarely take on projects because I want to provide the best opportunity I can to promote machinima, therefore I’m always recommending other machinimists. Between promoting machinima for Alt-Zoom and signing on to work for The Grid Review, I’ve realized that I’m going to have to manage my time wisely now that I have less hours.

This is probably going to sound silly to most of you, but I’ve started to project manage my own life. I’m scrapbooking transcripts, saving notes, jotting down ideas, signing up for invoicing software, signing up for time-tracking software. I’m not even sure if I’d call myself a business, but I need to manage my time in a structured way. I’m obviously going to be hit for self-employment taxes, so I need to be prepared. Record expenses, save receipts, document everything.

Why am I telling you this? I’m not sure. Lack of sanity and hope for clarity? Is there anyone else out there in Second Life that is going through the same thing? I’d like to know that I’m not alone.